In the first heat of the San Diego Crew Classic, the Blue Devils turned in a season-best time of 6:35.11 to edge No. 14 Wisconsin for third place out of the six boats, trailing only now-No. 1 USC and No. 2 Cal. In the Grand Final, Duke took sixth with a time of 6:41.23 behind five top-10 teams.

The performance, coupled with another appearance in the Grand Final by Duke’s V4 and a third-place finish by the 2V8 in the Petite Final, vaulted Duke into the CRCA/US Rowing Top 20 Coaches Poll with a ranking of No. 20.